> You don't need college if your goal in life is to be a corporate drone. It's a huge waste of money. If your goal is to be a critical thinker with a diverse education and social experiences, college is one of the lowest barrier to entry (not necessarily best) ways to achieve that.
I'd argue the opposite: you need college to become a corporate drone (you're not getting in otherwise); forging your own path provides many more opportunities to learn critical thinking and social experiences (provided you have the guts to strike out and not stay at home working at McD).